Thunder and Lightning
by mistress meo
Summary: Sometimes a storm can have strange effects on people.
1. Part 1

Title: Thunder and Lightning

Author: mistress meo

Summary: Sometimes a storm can have strange effects on people.

Rating: M – not sure where this is going so better to be safe than have this pulled down.

Pairing(s): Draco/Hermione

Disclaimer: I own nothing. JK Rowling is the keeper of all that is Harry Potter and is a goddess of the written word. This disclaimer applies for all future chapters. I do not profit from this story. It is just for my own amusement.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thunder and Lightning

The storm called to each of them in its own way. One answered to thunder, the other to lightning. But whatever the case, they answered.

Up from the dungeons he ran, the call of thunder resonating throughout his body, compelling him to do its bidding. Down from the tower she came, almost in a trance, the call of the light beckoning her. Always the diligent one, she answered immediately, unquestioning.

Both summoned from sleep, though not quite yet awake, they each answered yes in their dreams and acted on the requests made. To the Great Hall. The why didn't matter. Besides, they would find out soon enough. She arrived first, entered and was drawn to the window at the far end. He followed, but only a moment behind. Finding her where he was meant to go, he joined her at the window. They did not look at each other, not yet. The only acknowledgement that he had joined her was when he slipped his arms around her from behind. Together they stared into the blackness waiting for their next request. The why didn't matter, remember?

At the next flash of light they were compelled to turn to each other, she still held protectively in his arms. In an instant the light was gone. Only a glimpse of the person standing opposite was stolen. But with the answering rumble of the thunder, he gently took her face in his hands while she wrapped her arms about his waist. Instinctively, they pulled each other closer. Another flash of light and for a split second they were able to look deep into each other's eyes. Neither fear nor hate was found reflected in either of them. The light winked out again, and with some unquestionable force, they both leaned in for a kiss. The next crash of thunder rang true.

Their kiss was long, hot, slow and deep. It was not hard or forceful. Neither was it a struggle for dominance. The kiss was one that soon took their breath away. They drank in each other's souls, just as the storm outside the window had demanded. But no amount of rain could quench the passion that fired between the forbidden couple engaged in the storm's bidding. They had ventured far beyond what the storm had asked of them.

As the storm moved away, the kiss that was so penetrating became slower and feather-light. Who knows how much time had passed, but as the rumble in the distance became softer and softer, one could almost make out the sun cresting over the horizon. The lightning flashed for the last time and with the storm's task complete, the couple pulled apart.

Both fully awake now, he looked at her one last time and then turned to leave. But before he could get one step away from her, she caught his sleeve and tugged him back.

"It wasn't a dream then, was it?"

"No," he answered flatly.

"Then what…"

"I don't know Granger."

"Imperius?"

"Who would bother?" he turned again to leave.

"Malfoy, please wait."

He did not turn to face her but said with resolve, "Granger, whatever it was, it's done. I'm going back to bed. I suggest you do the same."

She came to stand in front of him blocking his path. "It's not done and you know it. I was there with you, remember?" She took a step forward and put her arms around his neck. He didn't look at her or embrace her, just stared past her towards the exit. She pulled his head to hers. And just before giving him the most delicate of kisses, she whispered against his lips, "You and I both know it's not done …_Draco_."

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. He could do nothing but agree.


	2. Part 2

Thunder and Lightning – part 2

He allowed the soft, sweet kiss to sweep him away. But only for a few short moments. In truth, his rational mind was losing an internal battle, one that was fought with the passion that flared within him. This was wrong. All wrong on many levels. But he couldn't control himself. All his gut wanted at that moment was her, to be lost in her kiss forever. But the inner workings of his pureblood brain won out and before the first beam of sunlight hit the floor of the great hall, he found himself pulling away from her - mind winning out over this forbidden passion…his lust for her.

"Someone or something is playing us Granger. And I'll have no more part in it." Before he could change his mind he purposefully walked out, leaving Hermione to stand in the dawn's light alone.

All throughout the day whenever they had lessons or meals together, she sent him knowing glances hoping that he'd acknowledge her…in any way. By the time dinner was over, she was even hoping that he'd insult her. Even Harry and Ron noticed how unusually silent Malfoy was during the day. There should have been at least a sneer thrown their way during one class or another, but there had been nothing. Very out of character for Malfoy.

The Great Hall cleared out and Harry and Ron returned to the common room. Hermione had remained, telling them she wanted to study in the Great Hall for a little while…it was Friday night and the common room was typically loud and a bit rowdy at the end of the week. They left her only after she promised to join them in an hour or two.

A few other students stayed behind as well. Some Hufflepuffs were studying quietly and two Ravenclaws were playing wizard's chess. But the real reason Hermione wanted to stay was because Malfoy hadn't left yet. He was still sitting at the Slytherin table with Blaise and Pansy.

"She's staring at you again," Pansy said. "What is going on with the Gryffindor princess? Doesn't she know she's just asking for trouble?"

"Yeah," Blaise chimed in. "And would you care to explain why she isn't actually on the receiving end of your kind of trouble? You must have had a dozen clear shots today to hex her to hell."

Malfoy looked up from his copy of the daily prophet. He had been doing his best to ignore Granger all day, but now his friends had forced him to acknowledge her. He took a quick glance toward her and she immediately turned her attention back to the book that lay open on the table in front of her.

He answered in what he hoped was his usual haughty tone. "I was hoping that if I ignored her, she would just disappear."

"But the staring…come on, it's been like this in every class…whenever you're in the same room together," Pansy whined. "Don't you find it tiresome?"

"Why don't you just have at her and be done with it. Come on. Now's a perfect time since her hero and sidekick have left."

Malfoy cleared his throat. _'Have at her. Lord, if they only knew.'_

"Look I don't care what the staring is about. She's a speck to me, and an inconvenience to all. Her mere existence is an annoyance. Excuse me for having had my fill of her _and_ her kind. I've decided to ignore the lot of them. She's not even worth a good hex. Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm going to turn in early. I didn't sleep very well last night." And with that, he rose and left them.

Hermione, of course, watched him leave. As not to be too conspicuous, she waited a few moments, yawned and stretched then collected her things and left the hall casually. Once in the foyer outside the Great Hall, she broke into a run and headed toward the dungeons. If she hurried she might be able to catch Draco before he entered the Slytherin common room.

Rounding the last corner before she got to the Slytherin portrait she saw him halfway down the hall. "Malfoy wait."

"Oh good Lord, here we go," he said under his breath. "Why am I not surprised?" He didn't turn, just continued on toward the portrait.

"Malfoy please…" she said a little out of breath. She was almost right behind him, "Draco," she called at last.

He stopped abruptly and spun on her. "Don't call me that…you don't get to call me that, understand?" The malice was back in his voice. So different from how softly he had spoken to her early this morning.

"I…uh…I'm sorry," she said catching her breath. "I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. You left so abruptly last night, I mean…this morning. You didn't give me a chance to…"

"There is no need for anymore talking or anymore anything for that matter. I don't want anything to do with you Granger. Now if you don't mind, take yourself back the way you came. You're not welcome down here."

"But Malfoy, I don't think that what you want or do not want is entirely up to you."

"Of course it is. I'm in complete control."

"Sure, _now_. But you weren't in control last night were you?"

"Well, I…"

"Don't even try to rationalize your actions last night. There was no control on either of our parts."

"Granger, last night when I…"

"Last night when you what? Last night when you got up out of a dead sleep and consciously got yourself to the Great Hall somehow knowing I'd show up. Just so we could have a passionate snog? You call that control? I call that delusional."

"No. Okay so maybe there wasn't any control last night…"

"Or this morning," she cut in.

"Fine. Or this morning, but I _am_ in control now and it won't be happening again so…"

"How do you know that for sure? We don't know why we did what we did, do we? Was it a spell? Were we possessed? Please Malfoy, explain it to me because I don't have a clue."

"It doesn't matter, Granger. It will _not_ be happening again. Not if I can help it."

"And just exactly how are you going to stop it? There was a force pulling us towards each other last night. There was no control, we willing accepted to do something's bidding…how can you even stop something like that?"

"I'll find a way," he stormed away from her and whispered the password before disappearing behind the portrait. There was no way she could follow.

Safely in the near empty common room, he leaned against the closed portrait and let out a long breath.

"Good night Granger," he said to himself, then pushed off the wall and headed to his room.


	3. Part 3

Thunder and Lightning - Part 3

She watched him disappear through the portrait hole and let out a huff. _'Well fine. Nothing like a little denial to get you to sleep at night. Damn him.'_ Hermione wandered back to the near desolate Gryffindor common room and talked with Harry and Ron for about an hour. She thought it would take her mind off of last night. Truth be told, she wanted to take her mind off Malfoy _and_ what happened last night. What else could have compelled them so strongly to do what they did? _'If it was a spell, who would want to do that to us?'_ she thought. _'Was it some kind of joke? To get the two people who are so opposite…to force them to…to…oh, Lord.'_ Just thinking about what they had done was making her blush.

Her face was red to such a point that Ron asked, " 'mione, are you alright? You look a little flushed."

"Uh, fine Ron. Just tired I guess. Suppose I'll turn in."

"Might as well get some sleep too," Harry said, "there's not much going on down here tonight."

"Right mate," Ron said. " 'night 'mione."

"Goodnight Harry…Ron. See you both in the morning."

"Breakfast at 9:30?" Ron asked.

"Sure." Hermione took her bag and headed to her room.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

He paced his room for an hour before attempting to go to bed. Then spent the next hour or so wide-awake and staring at the canopy overhead. It was only when he finally started to doze that he heard it in the distance. A low rumble…the start of the storm. He sat up, startled, his heart pounding in his chest. Malfoy immediately snatched his wand off the bedside table and closed the drapes that hung around his bed. The next rumble was a little louder and a slight flash of light followed; the storm was clearly heading towards them. He didn't want what happened last night to happen again. But with that second clap of thunder he could feel it start to pull him. But how to stop it?

Thunder sounded again, even louder…closer. Out of sheer panic he pointed his wand at his torso and recited, "Plenus somes redimio." Suddenly leather straps wrapped around his ankles and wrists securing him to the bed. He practically laughed with relief. If he couldn't get up from the bed, there was no way he could move when summoned by the thunder. No way possible to meet Granger, and if he couldn't meet Granger, he couldn't snog her.

As the storm moved closer, the pull grew stronger. He had lost count of how many times the thunder sounded and the lightning flashed back. At one point he found himself straining against his bonds, but he thanked Merlin that they held fast. He watched as the lightning silhouetted the room outside of his curtained bed. With each flash he could make out his desk, and the other two beds in the room. Another flash and this time, something caught his eye by the doorway…some movement. A figure had entered the room. He hoped with everything he had that one of his roommates had gotten up, unable to sleep due to the storm. But unfortunately, he knew deep down inside that it was wishful thinking. His fears were realized when, with the next flash of lightning, the figure silently pulled back the bed curtain to reveal Granger standing next to his bed.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Her roommates already asleep, she got herself ready for bed and crawled under the covers. Unfortunately, Hermione would not find sleep anytime soon, for in the distance she heard it…a low rumble. Her heart leapt in her chest. Was it possible for someone to be fearful and excited at the same time? For as much as she was afraid of the force that called to her, she was intrigued and excited by it. Did it have anything to do with fact that this unknown force pulled her and Malfoy, the most eligible single male of her year, towards each other? She firmly told herself 'no' to that question, but unconsciously, she knew she was lying to herself. Of course she was loving the fact that this, this…thing had her somehow connecting with Malfoy on a very naughty level. On any normal day, Malfoy was completely unattainable - a fact that she realized in first year when he found out she came from a muggle family. But now? Now, some force had made him hers and she was so not going to complain about it. Question it? Sure. Analyze it when she finally figured out what it was? Absolutely. But until this spell or charm or whatever it was had run its course, she would revel in it. She would love the fact that she, and most specifically Malfoy, couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.

But would last night's occurrence happen for a second night or was it a one-time thing? She would just have to wait and see. So she lay in bed, flat on her back trying to relax and let herself fall asleep, despite her mind going a mile a minute. But when the first flash of light came, she obeyed its call like she did the night before. Hermione sat up, left her bedroom and walked back down to the common room. The dim firelight cast the room in sharp shadows. She hardly noticed any of it, just continued on through the portrait hole and followed the light's guided path. Down, down, down she went until she reached her destination. The dungeons; outside the Slytherin common room to be exact - the very spot that Malfoy had left her a few hours earlier, standing in front of the Slytherin portrait.

Hiding in the shadows of the dungeon she waited. This deep in the castle she could not see the light that flashed steadily outside, but she could hear and feel the thunder as it pulsed throughout her body. And though she didn't understand what the thunder said, she knew enough to know that whatever she was feeling, Malfoy would be feeling the same. But what she didn't understand was what could be keeping him. Last night they met at almost the exact same time. She had been standing here for almost ten minutes and he still hadn't appeared.

The pull was getting stronger, practically beckoning her beyond the portrait. Her heart pounded faster and her skin tingled with want. But there was nothing she could do. She didn't know the Slytherin password so she was stuck where she was until Malfoy came to her. _'What was keeping him?'_ she questioned to herself as she began to pace.

There was no way Malfoy could stop that kind pull without doing some kind of strong counter-spell to overcome it. But which counter-spell? He would first need to know the spell that caused the pull. And besides, if he performed the correct counter-spell, why was she still being affected?

She was about to tap on the sleeping portrait when she heard soft voices at the end of the corridor. Someone was coming. She hid deeper in the shadows and waited. A few moments later, two Slytherins rounded the corner and stood before the portrait. Hermione lurked forward and heard the boy whisper, "domus ut slithers sceptrum," and then watched as the portrait swung open. Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. _'That's the password? The house that slithers rules? Who comes up with this stuff?'_ But what the password was didn't matter. What did matter was that she knew what it was. She waited a few more minutes after the portrait swung closed and then stood before it. Hiding in the shadows as not to reveal her true house status, she whispered the password. The groggy Slytherin in the portrait grunted and swung its picture open for admittance. Hermione slunk in and quickly took in her surroundings.

Thankfully the common room was empty. The lightning must have flashed outside for the sizzle of its effects surged within her. The pull was even stronger here than it was in the hallway. It compelled her forward and guided her through the common room and down a hallway with multiple doors. For a split second she panicked. How would she know which door opened into Malfoy's room? But then the lightning and thunder spoke again and she was drawn to the door at the end of the hall. Hermione took a deep breath, turned the handle and, for better or worse, followed her call into the room beyond. She looked quickly to the two beds across the room. Nott and Zabini, thankfully sound asleep. She turned to the third bed in the room. Its plush green velvet curtains drawn, cocooning the boy inside in security, all be it, a false sense of security. With the next flash of light she silently reached forward and pulled back the curtain revealing Malfoy lashed to the bed.


End file.
